Asm. Labor Chair Liz Ortega Praises Historic Wage Theft Settlement, Highlights Possibilities for Local Enforcement

SAN LEANDRO, CA ― Assembly Labor Committee Chair Liz Ortega praised the recent California Superior Court settlement awarding $233 million in a class action wage theft suit under a local Anaheim “minimum wage” ordinance. “I want to congratulate the workers and attorneys who just won the largest wage theft settlement in California history. If wage theft can happen at the happiest place on earth, it can and is happening at other employers. The state’s system is broken,” said Asm. Ortega. “But this historic victory is proof that enforcement is actually happening at the local level, where communities and workers are coming together to write policies that work. A shout-out to UNITE HERE Local 11 and to Attorney Richard McCracken for writing, qualifying and winning the Anaheim ordinance that made all of this possible."

The case was filed under Anaheim’s 2018 law passed by voter initiative as Measure L, which raises minimum wages for hospitality employers who receive public subsidies. Today the minimum wage for Measure L employers is $20.42 per hour. Under the settlement, more than 50,000 current and former Disneyland employees will receive 100% of the back wages owed to them plus interest and penalties.

Importantly, Measure L also requires employers to pass along any service charges they collect to employees. About half of the funds owed under the $233 million settlement were for service charges that were pocketed by Disney and now will be returned to employees with interest.

California workers lose $2 billion per year because of minimum wage law violations. Yet the process for claiming stolen wages through state enforcement is so arduous, even when workers are able to win judgments, many don’t ultimately receive their stolen pay. Shamefully, only 12% of state cases are enforced, and of those, only one in seven employees recover the full amount of their stolen wages. A 2024 audit found the Labor Commissioner had a backlog of 47,000 unprocessed claims.

“The Disney decision shows that wage theft happens even at our largest employers,” said Asm. Ortega. “We need better state enforcement and a more effective state process. But failing that, local initiatives like Measure L may be a better way for workers and their local government officials to do what state government does not.”